Is service Marketing Different from Product Marketing - Research Paper Example

Paper Services vs. Product Marketing: A Comparison The marketing is believed to be the practice of promoting products and services that are conceptualized and designed in order to meet and fulfill specific needs and wants of the public (Fernando, Saad and Haron pp. 35). The advertisement is considered the basic and fundamental construct in the art and science of marketing because every new product and service is launched with the help of endorsement via various means and sources (Gronroos and Ravald pp. 20). The global economy is however, showing signs of moment from industrialization to services.

The banking and educational services are a few examples of thriving sub-domains of an increasingly growing industry. The products were previously marketed with the help of highlighting their physical attributes. In recent years, marketers have been switching towards enhancing psychological appeal of the products. The most commonly used technique in this regard goes with the name of celebrity endorsement in which the image of the product is purposely attached with a famous personality. The other famous technique is expert opinion in which an expert is invited to give his or her views about the product.

The product advertisement has been turning towards accommodating psychological and mental needs that are duly noted in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Calabrese pp.805). The humans are believed to be the creatures of emotions and feelings. They tend and like to fulfill their psychological needs and wants. In short, humans are always looking to satisfy their deep seated ambitions. The human need to feel important has managed to grown significantly over the past few decades. The humanity is attempting to thrive and the marketers are the ones who are keeping their jobs intact and therefore, benefitting from the abovementioned change a great deal.

The services are being marketed and advertised on a psychological ground only. The services are designed and institutionalized in order to fulfill associated mental needs (Gronroos pp. 243). The theme parks are meeting the need of getting relaxed in the company of famous cartoon and film characters. The educational services claim to help individuals in the process of becoming better human beings. The service marketing is considered far more easy and simple than advertising a physical product.

The modern customer has somehow learned the art of relating his or her psychological needs with the product as the services are more elaborately attached with the special psychological needs and wants and therefore, they are relatively easy and simple in terms of gathering attention. The world economy is moving towards services and therefore, it is imperative for marketers to learn the art and science of marketing the services. The product developers on the other hand, are forced to incorporate services with their offering in order to get needed attention from the clientele.

The automakers are providing cheap maintenance services to the consumers in order to satisfy their changing needs and wants. The product markets are compelling the producers in the direction of attaining economies of scale and in parallel; they are also required to create psychological value. Thusly, the product industry is much more challenging due to its requirement of exceptional cost control and differentiation at the same time. The services industry specifically targets to fulfill psychological needs and wants.

Nevertheless, production oriented companies have to hit a right balance between psychological needs and physical ones. The physical dimensions of the customer needs are known to be fulfilled with the help of quality control and enhancement. The psychological needs are nevertheless, attempted to be met with the assistance of celebrity endorsement. Additionally, the consumer products keep a steady sales record. In case of services, the sales are recorded as seasonal and therefore, the service providers have to initiate business tactics to attract customers in the specific time of the year.

Few years back, service marketing was considered difficult in comparison with the product advertisement. As the time passed, the psychological needs and wants of the customers grew stronger and therefore, the companies had to initiate a balancing strategy between the two imperatives of corporate plan that are known as cost control and differentiation. The services industry built its identity on the fundamental principle of differentiation and because of this reason, thriving in all parts of the world.

The production industry is face hardships and difficulties in terms of hitting a right balance between differentiation and cost control. Conclusion This paper reviewed and analyzed differences between service and product marketing and found that marketing products is much more difficult job than doing so with the services. The production oriented firms have to balance between two competing forces of cost control and differentiation. References Calabrese, Armando. "Service productivity and service quality: A necessary trade-off?

" International Journal of Production Economics 136,2 (2012): 800–812 Online. Fernando, Yudi, Norizan Saad and Mahmod Haron. "New marketing definition: a future agenda for low cost carrier airlines in Indonesia." Business Strategy Series 13, 1 (2012): 31 - 40. Gronroos, Christian. "A service perspective on business relationships: The value creation, interaction and marketing interface." Industrial Marketing Management 40, 2 (2011): 240–247 Online. Gronroos, Christian and Annika Ravald. "Service as business logic: implications for value creation and marketing.

" Journal of Service Management 22,1 (2011): 5 - 22 Online.